Improvement in street-railways



" STATES PATENT OFFICE;

TTMOTHY J. oTooLE, OE BROOKLYN, nEw YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN` STREET-RAILWAVS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 148,238, dated March 3,1874; 'application'led January 30,1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY J. OTOOLE,

` of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Railways, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of my improvement. Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional views, illustrating different methods of carrying my invention into effect.

This invention has relation to railways designed especially for use in cities of large population, and consists essentially in the combination, with a railway located upon the ground, of an elevated track, upon which run au engine and trucks connected withthe cars beneath, as hereinafter described.

Heretofore, as is well known, the power for propelling or drawing street and other cars has usually consisted of an engine running on the same track as the cars. With my irnprovement the engine or other apparatus for communicating locomotion to the cars runs upon an elevated track, drawing after it upon the same track a series of light trucks lor frames on wheels. These trucks or frames are connected, by hangers or equivalent arms or braces, with the car or cars beneath, running upon a track or tracks on the ground, so that when the engine is moved the cars will be drawn along on the track beneath.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates my invention, A A are the two tracks of a street-railway. Between these two tracks are erected posts or pillars B B, supporting beams C C, from which depend hangers D. E E are rails, suitably' aflxed to these hangers, upon which run an engine, F, and a train (one or more) of light trucks or frames on wheels Gr. H H show hangers, connecting the trucks Gr with the car or cars H In carrying this invention into eiect the street-cars may run on double wheels, as at present, with a truck mounted on a single line of wheels overhead, or will run on one wheel constructed especiallyv for the purpose below, while the trucks overhead have one or two wheels. Th'e advantage of having only one below is, that it will relieve the street of two rails.

The above improvements have reference particularly to a need of the present daynamely, rapid transit at a cheap rate from the heart' and thickly-settled portions of large cities to the suburbs and surrounding rural districts. Myimprovements afford a solution of this problem of rapid transit.

Incarrying my invention into effect, there shall be upper wheels attached to the cars by- ,an easy contrivance-two, if there be but one below; one, if therer be two below. These wheels shall be so adjusted as to secure safe and steady motion for the cars at any speed. In fact, no car can well jump the track with this arrangement.

Cars for this line may be of different sizes to suit the demand for transfer to the different stations at which they will require to stop. In this respect it is plain that, starting from either end of the route, it will be necessary to have these trains make but two or three stops totake up passengers. This can be accomplished without delay by having carsv awaiting the train, ready for attachment, which can be done under favorable circumstances without coming to a dead stop.

The proposed overhead road for driving power, while it will be perfectly strong and capable of the work it has to do, will manifestly need no very heavy or massive structure in the center of the street. v The upright iron columns will rise between the two tracks, and need not be more frequent ythan every forty feet at the least. They will be, of course, high enough to avoid all interference with ordinary street traffic. The hangers to support the upper rails may be dispensed with, if desired,

and the latter supported directly upon the transverse beams C, in which case the devices for connecting the .cars upon the street with the trucks above will be so constructed and arranged as to avoid the ends of said trans- Yerse beams, and yet have connection with gether, substantially as and for the purpose both cars and trucks when they are located speeied. in the same Vertical plane7 as shown in Fig. 3 In testimony that I claim the foregoing I of the accompanying drawings. have hereunto set my 11a-nd this 23d day of I claim- January, 1874. The Combination7 with the ground-track A, TIMOTHY J. OTOOLE. supporting the passenger-ears II, of the ele- VitneSSeS: vated railway supporting the traveling en- M. DANL. CONNOLLY, gine, sind cars and engine being coupled to- EUGENE P. EADsoN. 

